Vista Sans Wood Type Project

Workshop/ London/ Alexander Cooper & Rose Gridneff

Our initial explorations with the wood type focus on relating the content to the form. A literal approach was taken during a day on the press, experimenting with letter-spacing, and negative letter-spacing. This is the antithesis of how we usually work. The limitations of letterpress, due to the physical body of the type, mean that if type is to be printed in one run then it is most straightforward to letter-space the type out.

There is slightly too much impression, which was necessary in achieving an even print due to the varying wood used for the different characters. This will inform the basis of further explorations examining the ‘kiss’ of the type with the paper.